Can viewers actually learn something from a reality television show? Or, in the case of "Start-Ups: Silicon Valley," can the cast members?

The questions arise as Bravo - the cable network that has made its name in reality TV - unveils its latest show, which follows the lives of six young entrepreneurs as they navigate the ins and outs of getting a tech company off the ground.

Even in the first episode, set to premiere at 10 p.m. Monday, two cast members get raked over the coals by veteran investor Dave McClure. And while that is standard fare in Silicon Valley, they don't take it well.

The show has, predictably, garnered outcry from Silicon Valley denizens who worry that Bravo - with the aid of Mark Zuckerberg's sister Randi, the show's executive producer - will focus its tawdry, hyperbolic reality TV spotlight on tech culture rather than "the real" Silicon Valley.

Most "real" housewives in Beverly Hills, Miami and Atlanta can sympathize, and "Start-Ups" will no doubt cater to those who feast on a good verbal spat.

But cast member Kim Taylor believes the show has value for folks outside the valley who might be thinking of starting their own company or leaving a comfortable job to work at a rickety startup.

"The show isn't for people here," she says.

Lacking diversity

Bravo has provided a preview of just the first episode. It's understandably light on business dealings, since the show, like any drama, real or scripted, has to take the time to set up the characters and plot arcs.

But as far as cast demographics, "Start-Ups" skeptics have a legitimate gripe: the demographic sample is terrible. All six cast members are white and easy on the eyes.

In real reality, one can't walk more than a few blocks on Mountain View's Castro Street without passing folks from distant parts of the planet, or others that haven't seen a gym in some time.

Cast member Ben Way - who, along with his sister Hermione, runs Ignite Wellness, an app with the humble claim of knowing how long you'll live - doesn't believe "Start-Ups" presents an accurate slice of Silicon Valley, either. But he explains that with a simple mathematical argument: "We can only represent six cross sections because we're only six people," he says.

But Way does believe the show accurately depicts the challenges of doing business in Silicon Valley. His company is set to launch this month in Mountain View.

'Real' money

At the end of the first episode, Ben and Hermione pitch Ignite to McClure, one of Silicon Valley's heavyweight investors. In the run-up to the pitch, the show uses interchanges between Ben and Hermione to advance the notion that an influx of cash from an outside investor is one of the keys to getting started.

How "real" is that?

These days, it's half true at best - and getting less and less so. Many startups now launch their ideas and become real businesses without outside money. Taylor, for instance, says that she's bootstrapping her new startup with her own money.

The costs of starting a tech company - office space, supplies, computer servers and business grade software - are falling, and have been for some time. Forums and help groups on the Web provide resources, usually for free. Hardware gets cheaper every year as computer power increases. Free services like Skype and Facetime allow teams to work from home or coffee shop; community work spaces like NextSpace or Citizen Space mitigate the cost of renting an entire office.

For software, applications like Gmail and Google Docs provide businesses with free or less expensive versions of Microsoft Outlook and Office. Cloud storage services like Amazon's EC2, though not free, obviate the need to maintain in-house computing centers.

Crowdsourced funding sites like Kickstarter help ideas get off the ground by asking patrons to donate small amounts of money to the cause (though as this route becomes more popular, it gets harder to get noticed in the, er, crowd). Sometimes, with the help of the viral nature of Twitter and Facebook, these campaigns can raise millions of dollars. Pebble Technology raised over $10 million for a new watch that syncs with smartphones - the biggest Kickstarter campaign to date.

Get to the point

But investors and venture capitalists, especially with their large Rolodexes, still play a vital role in catalyzing business once they hit their growth curves. A 2011 study from the National Venture Capital Association says annually, VC-backed companies generated revenue equal to 21 percent of the United States' GDP.

When Ben and Hermione get McClure - a veteran of PayPal - into a conference room and start pitching, McClure acts as most investors do: He tells them to get to the point, taking the presentation slides and reading them on his own. And after a few follow-up questions, he tells the pair that Ignite isn't the right investment for 500Startups, his investment firm.

McClure's abruptness angers Ben. "Personally I find that style abrasive, as an entrepreneur," Ben said of the experience.

But being short with a pitching entrepreneur is standard practice. Investors get dozens of pitches, sometimes hundreds, every week. And each investor has their own style to sift through the noise.

'Start-Ups' blog

Chronicle business writer Caleb Garling is a survivor of a number of tech startups. Starting this week, he will blog thoughts and business critiques - not drama critiques - each Tuesday after Bravo's "Start-Ups: Silicon Valley" airs. Join in with your thoughts and reviews on The Tech Chronicles blog: www.blogs.sfgate.com/techchron

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